Nissan Will Produce Chevrolet-Badged NV200s Beginning Next Year

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There was a time when the relationship between Detroit and Japanese automakers could be summed up by photos of Big Three workers smashing a Honda or a Toyota with a sledgehammer. That’s not really the case these days. The latest example of Japanese-American cooperation comes via Nissan and Chevrolet. Come the fall of next year, Chevy will sell a bow-tie-branded version of Nissan’s NV200 commercial van called the City Express.

Nissan will assemble the Chevrolets at its Cuernavaca, Mexico, factory, where the NV200s are made, according to The Tennessean. Adding the Chevrolet will allow Nissan to better utilize that facility. Despite the NV200’s capabilities as a people mover—it is the official taxi of NYC, after all—there is no mention of a passenger version of the City Express.

Why go to Nissan for a commercial van instead of engineering its own? GM spokesman Dave Roman told The Tennessean, “We wanted to get into the segment quickly. We began talking to Nissan about it, and it made sense for both of us. And our customers have been asking for it.” Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but NV200s start at $20,985. The front-drive vans are powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder that produces 131 horsepower and 139 lb-ft of torque, which is mated to a CVT. The EPA has rated Nissan’s cargo van at 24 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway—not the type of numbers that blow your socks away, but the sort that get the job done.